


Pardon For a Hero, A

by westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist



Category: The West Wing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2002-02-28
Updated: 2002-02-28
Packaged: 2019-05-30 18:44:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15102707
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist/pseuds/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist
Summary: Donna tries to right a historical wrong.





	Pardon For a Hero, A

**Author's Note:**

> A copy of this work was once archived at National Library, a part of the [ West Wing Fanfiction Central](https://fanlore.org/wiki/West_Wing_Fanfiction_Central), a West Wing fanfiction archive. More information about the Open Doors approved archive move can be found in the [announcement post](http://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/8325).

Disclaimers: Aaron Sorkin et al own most of the characters, I'm just borrowing them for a while! 

Spoilers: Anything up to "Somebody's Going to Emergency..." which for the purposes of this story hasn't taken place. 

Rating: PG 

Summary: Donna tries to right a historical wrong. 

Author's notes: Anyone who's seen "Jaws" has heard of the incident this story discusses; the events are true, and I dedicate this story to Captain Charles Butler McVay, a man who the top brass in the Navy unjustly blames to this day. May his memory one day find the peace and apology he so richly deserves. 

Also, while Captain McVay was eventually given a 'tombstone promotion' to Rear Admiral upon his retirement, he didn't choose to think of himself as such, which is why I usually do not refer to him as one except once. To his crew, he was and always will be their Captain.

Notable references: <http://www.ussindianapolis.org/main.htm> and "In Harm's Way" by Doug Stanton. 

  


A Pardon for a Hero 

by Naomi Davenport

"0nly 316 men, Josh. 316 out of 1,196 survived." Donna was pacing in his office, her usually animated face drawn and sad. 

Josh sighed. "Survived what, Donna?" He was staring at the latest figures on the President's performance, and paying little attention to her latest diatribe. It took him a moment to realize that she had stopped pacing and was glaring at him. 

"The U.S.S. Indianapolis, Joshua." She was mad now. "One of the most heartbreaking incidents in the history of the U.S. Navy." Glaring at him, she continued, "Is it too much to ask for you to listen to me just once?" 

"Okay, I get that, but *why* are you telling me about it?" Shaking his head, Josh gestured to the stacks of papers on his desk. "I have a ton of stuff I need to get done before I can go home tonight, and I don't have time to listen to your historical recitations." He looked up startled, as his door slammed shut behind her. 

"What's with her?" 

~~~ 

"Hey, Donna." Sam poked his head around the corner of the bullpen, pausing as she sat staring into space, tapping her pen on her desk absentmindedly. "Donna?" When she still didn't answer him, he moved to stand next to her desk. "Are you okay?" 

Finally she noticed him. "Oh, hi Sam." She stared at him for a moment before blinking rapidly, as if something had just popped into her mind. "Sam! You're just the person I need to talk to!" 

He grinned. "First you ignore me, then you need to talk to me?" 

"Sorry, but this is really important." Donna answered. "Are you still working on the pardon list for the President?" 

"Yeah, I'm just finishing up. Why, what did Josh do this time?" Sam asked jokingly. 

She growled. Actually growled. "Don't mention him." 

"I see." He pushed a file out of his way, then seated himself on the corner of her desk. "Seriously though, what's on your mind?" 

Donna smiled slightly. "Did you ever see 'Jaws', Sam?" 

For a moment, he considered making another joke before discarding the idea. "Yes, of course." 

"Do you remember the part when they are out hunting the shark, and Quint and Hooper are comparing scars?" At his nod, she continued. "And how Quint talks about surviving the sinking of the U.S.S. Indianapolis, and how so many men died?" 

Slightly befuddled as to her purpose, Sam again nodded. "Vaguely. But how does a movie have anything to do with the pardons?" 

Donna rolled her eyes. "I'm getting there." She waited for a brief moment. "You do know that it was based on fact, right?" 

"Well, yeah. But that's it." He replied. 

"Okay, then." Donna was beginning to look more like herself. "On July 30, 1945 the Indianapolis was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine. Of the almost 1200 men on board, only 316 made it home. The Navy blamed the ship's captain for the loss of the ship and her men, and courtmartialed him. Captain McVay lived with the shame for 23 years before he killed himself." 

Thoughtfully, Sam asked, "Wait a minute. Isn't that the man that Congress passed legislature exonerating last year?" 

"Yes, but it's not enough. I think the President should officially pardon him, to try and force the Navy Department into clearing his record. They still to refuse to do so, even now." She pushed back her chair, staring at him. "Please, Sam. Won't you ask him?" 

Standing, he grimaced. "It's not that easy, Donna. I need to do some research into it first." 

For the first time, she truly smiled. "What if someone already did?"  
Reaching into the top drawer on her desk, she pulled out a red folder and handed it to him. "Reseached, footnotes, references. Everything." 

Sam shook his head, and laughed. "Okay, Donna. I'll take a look at it, and if it looks like it's a good case, I'll present it to the President along with my other recommendations." 

"Thank you, Sam." Donna squeezed his hand. "I appreciate your willingness to listen, unlike somebody else I could mention." 

"You're welcome." Sam smiled at her, then left to return to his office. 

~~~  
Two days later

"This was Donna's idea?" Leaning back in his chair, Bartlet laced his hands behind his head. "It appears she's done a lot of work on this report." 

Sam was sitting on the couch opposite, next to Toby. "It's all hers, sir. And I must say, that I have to agree with her. The Navy railroaded the poor man, for decisions that other people made. Nobody warned him that a submarine had been sighted in the area, and likewise no one seemed to care that the ship hadn't arrived at Leyte when it should have. It was only pure luck that the pilot of the PV-  
1 spotted some of the survivors when he did and called for help." 

"Those brave men...adrift for four days." The President sat up, shaking his head. "They must have thought that no one cared enough to even look for them." 

"And to a man, none of the survivors blamed Captain McVay." Toby had been quiet throughout most of Sam's presentation. "Even the sub's commander agreed that there was nothing that he could have done to change the outcome. The Navy was wrong then, and they are still wrong today." 

Bartlet laid his folder on the end table next to him. "Well, I think this is one pardon we can all agree on. Tell Donna it's a go, Sam." 

"Thank you, Mr. President." Sam gathered his papers and stood. "I'll go tell her now." 

~~~ 

"Hey Carol, have you seen Donna?" Sam asked. "I need to talk to her." 

Carol rolled her eyes, inclining her head at the closed door to Josh's office. "They're fighting over lunch again." 

He groaned. "Can't they ever agree on anything?" Not waiting for an answer, he knocked on the door loudly. 

"WHAT?" Josh shouted, sounding aggravated. 

Opening the door just enough to put his head inside, Sam answered. "It's just me. I need to speak to Donna." When nothing bounced off his head or the door, he entered the office the rest of the way. "Congratulations, Donna." 

She was standing in front of the chalkboard, glaring at the other man, but spun around at his words. "Really?" Beaming, she threw her arms around him. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" 

Returning her hug, Sam responded to the inquistive look on Josh's face. "The President has granted her request for a pardon for Captain McVay." 

Josh stared at him for a moment, before it dawned on him. "Oh, the ship thing." When Donna let go of Sam and glared at him again, he spread his hands in askance. "I'm sorry, Donnatella. But, I'm proud of you too." The happiness on her face was her only response. 

~~~  
July 30, 2001  
The Rose Garden 

"...and I ask that the Department of the Navy and Admiral Gray reconsider their refusal to clear the record of Rear Admiral McVay, as this pardon reflects my intent to see him cleared of all charges of wrongdoing in the sinking of the U.S.S. Indianapolis 56 years ago, this very day." President Bartlet signed his name to the proclamation, before handing it to the proud son accepting the honor on behalf of his father. "On behalf of the citizens of the United States, I offer my deepest apology to you and your family for the suffering that your father went through." 

Watching from the audience, standing among men who had lived through the four days of unimaginable horrors as they had to choke back tears at the rare privilege granted a hero, Donna Moss smiled again.

 


End file.
